It's been nearly nine years since WWE last staged a show in Abu Dhabi. Three-time WWE champion Cody Rhodes thinks it's time the wrestling company returned.
“Love Abu Dhabi,” Rhodes tells The National. “I only get to stop in for a brief moment usually, but I feel like it’s been a minute because WWE has been over in the Middle East, but we haven’t really hit Abu Dhabi. And we should.”
WWE last staged shows in the UAE capital in December 2017, when Roman Reigns was among the stars who performed at Zayed Sports City Tennis Stadium. The company has since increased its presence in Saudi Arabia, where its next major event, Crown Jewel, takes place in Riyadh on November 7, with Reigns set to face Sami Zayn.
Rhodes is speaking alongside American comedian Andrew Schulz, his co-star in the new Street Fighter film. Schulz is no stranger to the emirate as he has performed at Etihad Arena twice, first in October 2023 and again in May 2024 during the inaugural Abu Dhabi Comedy Week.
“Abu Dhabi’s great. Some of the best comedy audiences in the world,” Schulz says.
In director Kitao Sakurai's adaptation of Capcom's fighting-game series, Rhodes plays US Air Force fighter Guile, while Schulz portrays Dan Hibiki. Set in 1993, Street Fighter follows estranged fighters Ryu (Andrew Koji) and Ken Masters (Noah Centineo), who are recruited by Chun-Li (Callina Liang) to enter the World Warrior Tournament.
Learning to perform without an audience
Schulz came to the film with two decades of stand-up comedy experience, although some of the habits he had developed on stage proved less useful when working alongside other actors.
“We’re not getting a big pop or a big laugh,” he says. “So I think in some ways it’s like training yourself out of waiting for the reaction.
“This character’s not even looking for a laugh. He’s dead serious about what he’s saying. It might be ridiculous and absurd, but to him, it’s the most important thing in the world. It’s kind of unlearning some things that we’ve both been doing for the last 20 years.”
Rhodes found more familiar territory during a tournament scene involving hundreds of extras gathered around the fighters. With Guile surrounded by competitors and spectators, there was an opportunity to draw on the showmanship he has developed throughout his wrestling career.
“There is an element of peacocking to what Guile was doing,” he says. “I mean, I even challenged Schulz to an arm-wrestling contest.”
Director Sakurai and representatives from Capcom were also on set, providing some of the feedback Rhodes was accustomed to receiving from wrestling audiences. Their encouragement helped him judge whether his interpretation of Guile was working and remained faithful to the character.
There was also room to experiment, particularly when Schulz and Rhodes began suggesting ways to add humour to the action.
During one scene, Schulz was fascinated by the aerial performers suspended above the set, some of whom were hanging by their hair.
“They literally just tied a knot to their hair, and they’re just spinning around,” he says.
The sight inspired an idea. Schulz and Rhodes suggested that one of the performers could descend upside down during a conversation involving Guile, interrupting the exchange before disappearing back towards the ceiling. The filmmakers liked the gag enough to include it in the finished film.
“They were very willing to just hear our absurd ideas,” Schulz says.
Bringing something new to familiar characters
Beyond those contributions, Schulz was working within a production in which the broader creative decisions were in other people's hands – an unfamiliar position after two decades building his own comedy career.
“It was very cool to be in something where you trust the creators and you just go, ‘OK, for the first time in my career, I completely submit to what your creative is, and I’m going to try to execute that to the best of my ability',” he says.
Rhodes is joined in the film by fellow professional wrestlers Roman Reigns, who plays Akuma, and Hirooki Goto, who portrays E Honda. WWE has helped promote the adaptation, with Rhodes wearing Guile-inspired ring gear during his SummerSlam entrance in August.
The crossover between wrestling and film offers an opportunity to reach an audience already familiar with their work, while showing fans something they haven't seen before from all three.
“What I love is that when they see Roman, when they see Goto, when they see me, they won’t be seeing what they’re used to, which is a credit to what we’ve been able to do and the skills that we were able to develop before we got into this, in terms of creating a brand new character, another layer for us,” Rhodes says.
Street Fighter releases in UAE cinemas on Thursday